Stitches
by Nadare
Summary: "The ripples cleared and she squinted, making out a hazy figure standing in front of her. Details gradually appeared until a soft gasp escaped Victoria at the sight that came into horrifying focus." A one-shot about Victoria Cindry, after death, but before she became a zombie. Written for Goretober 2018.


_A/N: This story covers the following prompts for Goretober: Experiment and Sewn Together. No major warnings this time, as it's more psychological horror than anything else. :)_

[Written on and off between 10-20-18 to 10-28-18]

* * *

" _ **Stitches"**_

 _ **One Piece One Shot**_

She woke up in darkness.

Her head ached, Victoria putting a hand to her forehead as she sat up. She surveyed her surroundings, wondering how she'd gotten here. The last thing Victoria recalled was performing on stage, her arms sweeping outward as she turned to the audience, and then…it was no good. Victoria couldn't remember.

A new thought occurred to her.

"Samuel?" Her fiancé was her biggest supporter, always meeting her backstage after performances with a bouquet of flowers and words of praise. No matter that half the time Victoria had thought it didn't live up to her high standards. Had something happened to him?

She stood up, starting to walk in one direction, Victoria sure she would encounter something eventually. She traveled for what felt like hours, feet sore, until she spied a bright light in the distance.

Victoria forgot about her bodily woes, making a beeline for the lone sign of hope. As she got closer, her intrigue about the situation rose ever higher.

Before her stood a large full-length ornate mirror in a silver frame.

The light within died as soon as Victoria leaned nearer, becoming dark and murky. She pressed one hand against the surface, jerking backward when she discovered it was warm to the touch and pulsing ever so slightly as if it had a heartbeat.

Taking a step back, Victoria peered into the mirror's depths when large ripples spread across the surface like someone was beating on it from the other side. They ultimately cleared and she squinted, making out a hazy figure standing in front of her. Details gradually appeared until a soft gasp escaped Victoria at the sight that came into horrifying focus.

It was her reflection, but not.

She moved her arms and the ghastly reflection followed, its light blue skin marked by garish black stitches in various places. The eyes were dull, their icy gaze causing a shiver to run down Victoria's spine. The only thing it didn't mimic was her facial expressions, the face locked into blankness like a porcelain doll.

Creeped out, Victoria gripped both sides of the mirror, pushing as hard as she could in an effort to tip it over. She spent a few minutes working at it but accomplished nothing, the mirror as immovable as a mountain. Panting slightly, her arms and legs stiff and sore, Victoria glared at the reflection.

"What do you want from me?" Nothing. The figure just stood there silently. "Please, I don't know how much more I can take." Victoria hung her head, fighting back tears of frustration.

Something touched her arm and Victoria jumped, her eyes going wide in shock at the cold hand that gripped her tightly. The twisted image of herself began to step through the looking glass. Victoria pulled back sharply, her skin crawling as she realized she'd unintentionally helped it on its short journey.

"Let go." Half of it was already out, Victoria trying in vain to shake it off. It didn't matter that the void she currently occupied led nowhere, Victoria wanted to get as far away from it as she could. "Let me go!" The eerie thing was her doppelganger's face remained static, unmoved by her plight, even as the last of its leg cleared the mirror, entering Victoria's world entirely.

Still, it wouldn't release her, grabbing Victoria's other wrist. She was dismayed to discover that despite a fierce desire to flee, there was some kind of magnetic pull to her double. Every step she took drew it closer to her.

The bottom of her stomach dropped out as she saw the abnormal color of the doppelganger's skin began to bleed, running down its fingers into Victoria's own flesh where it spread like wildfire across the rest of her body. Conversely, its skin was rapidly clearing, becoming deathly pale.

"Why are you doing this?"

The black stitches were next to transfer, encircling Victoria's flesh, marking it as other. The creature that wore her face looked thinner, its feminine curves less pronounced. The skin developed cracks, which quickly appeared everywhere on its body.

Watching herself slowly decay did nothing to improve Victoria's mood, growing more terrified by the second. The doppelganger leaned forward, putting its nightmarish face, little more than a skull now, mere inches from hers.

An image sprung to life in its dead eyes, of a familiar wide mouthy smile and dark gaze. Its mouth opened and instead of Victoria's voice was a deep male voice, pitched high in glee.

"Cindry-chan!"

With a shock, Victoria recognized it. "…Dr. Hogback?"

The last thing she saw before everything went black was her double's face drawing closer and closer until it swallowed Victoria whole.


End file.
